Palladium Books® Weekly Update – Feb. 2, 2018

By Kevin Siembieda

One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

A lot of things are going on at the Palladium offices. The most fun is the Palladium Open House which is a mere two and a half months from now. Other things involve getting books finished and into your hands, Robotech®, and a number of business and convention matters. Crazy times. I’m going to jump right into it. Read on.

UPDATE: Palladium Open House

As we get closer and Game Masters are submitting events (please keep them coming), there has been discussion about the kinds of events, games and panel talks we should be hosting. Among them were a couple of things I wanted to mention to get your opinion on.

Kevin the player. One idea was a game where I, Kevin Siembieda, am just a player. I’m usually the Game Master because I love running games. But it was brought up to me that people might enjoy being able to say, hey, I was in a game with Kevin Siembieda. I’m hesitant, because a game is only 6-8 people and typically 4 hours long. That seems like a lot of hours to tie me up for. I could run two and a half Lord DeSilca games in that time. Or a game and a panel talk, so I’m thinking no. What do you think?

A live-streamed “all-stars” game. A role-playing game where I, and some Palladium staff and freelancers like Wayne Smith, Chuck Walton, Carl Gleba, Taylor White, etc. would be players in a game. This sounds more fun and unique to me. What do you think?

Kevin’s games. I will run 2-3 Lord DeSilca games because they’re fun and people love ‘em. Not sure what my other 3-4 games will be. Maybe Dead Reign and Beyond the Supernatural. If BTS I could play test some ideas for the magic system. That might be cool. Any requests for me to consider?

Any POH panel requests? I know you come to game, but folks also enjoy panel discussions. Any topic requests?

The Rifter® 2018 Super-Subscription Offer starts Saturday evening

Free gift(s)

$17 savings off cover price

Free shipping of each issue in the USA

Each fun issue delivered to your doorstep

Each issue a sourcebook for the Palladium Megaverse®

The cover price of The Rifter® is going up a dollar to $14.99 starting with issue #80 (this does not affect current subscribers). Still a great price for 96 pages of RPG source material and adventures. Ah, but the 2018 Super-Subscription Offer gets you The Rifter® delivered to your doorstep for only $10.74 an issue. And select from 7 gift choices for a FREE gift worth $24.95 to $46.80 – available only during this special offer – for the cost of shipping and handling. All prices are in U.S. dollars. Offer ends February 28, 2018.

$42.96 – USA. That’s only $10.74 each,a savings of $17.00, and Palladium pays the shipping! Plus you get to select a FREE Gift worth $24.95-$46.80 (please include $7.00 to cover shipping and handling). That’s $49.96 total including shipping and handling for the free gift. Note: This rate is limited to subscribers in the USA only. Sorry.

NEWS: Rifter® sale on DriveThruRPG

To go along with our Rifter® Super-Subscription Sale, we thought it would be nice to put The Rifter® PDFs – issues #1-75 – on sale at a 20% discount on DriveThruRPG.com. The sale begins tomorrow morning, Saturday, February 3, and runs through the month of February.

Over the next several weeks, Wayne will be making the rest of the Nightbane® and Palladium Fantasy RPG® titles available as PDFs on DriveThruRPG. Most Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited, Dead Reign®, the 1980s and ‘90s Robotech® RPGs and sourcebooks, and many other Palladium titles (200+) are available now.

A New Video Series from Questwise – The Road to Palladium Books Open House

Questwise will be coming to the Palladium Open House 2018. In the run-up to the Open House, Jodi is doing a series of videos looking at various Palladium Books related topics on his YouTube channel.

He has shared some of his plans with us about this series, including a special prize he’s going to offer for those who put together the clues he will be including at the end of each video.

The first video of the series was posted this past Monday and is titled Lore of the Megaverse®. You can check it out here: https://youtu.be/BQITnSggwhQ

We’re excited to see what he discusses next, and to game with him at the upcoming Open House!

UPDATE: The Rifter® #79 – Available now

The Rifter® #79 includes some new and alternative methods, rules and approaches to Game Mastering and making adventures, putting modern characters in different time periods throughout history, a closer look at the Heroes Unlimited™Stage Magician, and the Kingdom of New Oslo, a nice companion to the soon to be released Rifts® Sovietski, and more. Available now.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #80 – In development

Wayne is making his selections now. Mark Dudley is lined up to do some art.

NEWS: Small price increases are coming

The cost of paper and printing keeps going up, so Palladium will be making some small price increases, probably only $1-$2. We hope you understand. The price increases will start with new releases and backstock as they go into reprint.

NEWS: The Rifter® is going up

Starting with The Rifter® #80, the retail price of The Rifter® will be increased from $13.95 to $14.99, but this will not affect those of you with a current subscription, you are locked in to the old rate. Better yet, The Rifter® Super-Subscription Offer is starting this weekend, so you will be able to get The Rifter® at a discount, and, if you want it, you can select a FREE gift (you just pay the shipping cost).

UPDATE! World Book 36: Rifts® Sovietski™ – ships February

I am sorry to say we were not able to layout Rifts® Sovietski™ last weekend after all. Somehow I had missed finishing a big section. I had started it, but put it aside to work on something else, and never came back to it. I know, what a dope. Thank goodness I caught my mistake before it went to print. I have been editing and writing the last of it like crazy. Meanwhile, Wayne has been focused on layout prep and editing the new material as I crank it out. The book will go to the printer next week. Still on track for an end of February release.

Rifts® Sovietski™ is freakin’ awesome. So much cool stuff: The Cold Born psychic (think Burster with ice and cold), the mysterious and powerful Yaganar, the yeti-like Wolverine People and other cool D-Bees, a bunch of very new and different cyborgs, a bunch of M.O.S. skill packages that make character creation fast and fun, tables for a character’s background, unique characters, interesting places and back story that provides ideas for adventure and is a fun read. This World Book has it all. There is so much in this book that you are going to love. Everyone who has seen the finished sections of the Sovietski Soldier revisited, the Spetsnaz secret police/special forces, the D-Bees, the Religious Enclaves, and ... well, pretty much any of it, has gone wild over it. The first word out of their mouth being, “Wow.” I think that’s my favorite word for a critique of a book. Like Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans™ there is a lot of “Wow Factor” in Rifts® Sovietski™, as well as a lot of fun little touches that will make you smile and add spice to your character or your game.

UPDATE: Rifts® Bestiary™: North America, Vol. One and Two

These books gather and format the existing beasts from the current World Books and Sourcebooks (and some new beasts to spice up your games) into two big reference books. As soon as Rifts Sovietski goes to the printer (next week?), I dive into the final edits for both volumes, finish work on the new creatures, and send them off to the printer.

These are just the first two of what we hope to be a series of sourcebooks that collect all the notable monsters, dinosaurs and creepy crawlers of Rifts® Earth. The focus of the Rifts® Bestiary™: North America, Volume One and Volume Two being creatures of North America (US, Canada and Mexico). Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books. On track for winter releases.

UPDATE: Rifts® Disavowed™

Another cool book coming soon. I look forward to getting to the final writing for Rifts® Disavowed.

UPDATE: Rifts® Living Nowhere™

The new draft manuscript for Rifts® Living Nowhere arrived last week, though I have not had a chance to review it.

UPDATE: Dead Reign®: In the Face of Death™

The ideas for this book are screaming to be committed to paper. The cover and most of the interior art is done for it, and I usually write Dead Reign® books crazy fast, so I may slot this bad boy in sooner than later.

NEWS: Palladium Books on HippoTV on Twitch.tv

The awesome people at HippoTV (https://www.twitch.tv/HippoTV/) host a wide variety of games most days of the week. For fans of Palladium Books® they feature a Heroes Unlimited™ game every other Saturday, and every other Thursday features an After the Bomb® space game. The gamers playing these games come from all over the world, are very enthusiastic, and represent a wide variety of experience with Palladium's games.

Be sure to check out HippoTV either during a live broadcast or by watching one of the archived games. The next session for the Heroes Unlimited™ game will be on Saturday, February 10th, starting at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The next session for the After the Bomb® game is February 15, starting at 10:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Reminder: Palladium Open House VIP Night tickets are limited

Remember, VIP Night tickets are limited in number. Sold on a first come first served basis, so keep those orders coming in. VIP night at the Open House gets you an extra evening of gaming, first crack at special items, new releases, original art, early access to our many guests, and a delicious meal. This is always a fun, intimate night of gaming and hanging with the Palladium crew.

VIP Night always sells out before the event (limited to 120 VIPs) so we encourage you to reserve your ticket as soon as possible. It is because VIP Night always sells out that we deliberately hold back 40 or so tickets till now, so everyone has a fair shot at being able to get them.

Reserve your hotel room for the POH before they are sold out

Rooms at the Red Roof are getting close to sold out! Especially rooms with two full beds ($49.95 plus tax per night). When they are gone, your choice is a room with just one king bed ($49.95 plus tax per night) – or – our other, more upscale hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites at more than twice the price ($119 plus tax per night). Both are 3 miles or less from the Palladium warehouse, less than 10 minutes away.

Note: The hotel reservation deadline is March 15, 2018, but the rooms are likely to sell out BEFORE that deadline, because we may have record attendance. Please reserve your rooms at one hotel or the other sooner rather than later. You have been given fair warning.

$49.95 per night (plus tax) at Red Roof Inn for two full beds or one king bed. No frills hotel accommodations, great price.

Group Rate: Must ask for the “Palladium Books Group Rate” at the time of booking to ensure the correct lower rate will be quoted and billed to you.

Extend your stay at the same discount rate before or after the POH. Make sure the hotel knows if you are coming in early or staying longer and want the “Palladium Books Group Rate” for your entire stay. Only Red Roof Inn has this generous offer.Open House Dates: April 20-22, 2018, plus April 19 is VIP Night (and we know a few of you are coming in a day early to help with set-up and some staying till Monday to help with the clean-up and to hang out a little longer that morning).

Airport Note: The hotels and Palladium’s warehouse are 15-20 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) in Romulus, Michigan, near I-275. Detroit Metro is the airport you want to use.

Gen Con – Palladium Game Event Descriptions Needed by March 1, 2018

To have your event listed in the onsite, Gen Con Program Book (very important for full attendance), you need to send us your gaming events and descriptions NO later than March 1, 2018. This date gives us enough time to compile and send Gen Con everything they need. The Early Event Submission Deadline already passed (February 1), so PLEASE get your Gen Con Palladium game events to us by March 1. Thanks!

Game Masters, as in years past, please coordinate with NMI and the Megaversal Ambassadors to be part of the Palladium Books gaming block at Gen Con.

UPDATE: Come to the Palladium Open House – April 20-22, 2018

The 2018 Palladium Open House is only 2 ½ months away, so if you know you are going to attend, please order your admission tickets as soon as possible and reserve your hotel room. Ordering your admissions ticket helps Palladium to make sure we have enough events running to keep everyone busy and having fun.

Game Masters planning on running events at the POH, PLEASE get us your game descriptions as soon as possible, so we can post a schedule of events in advance. See details, below.

POH Highlights:

Come play at the very site where the magic happens.

Three days of gaming (4 for those attending VIP night), plus panel talks, live auction and more.

Held at the Palladium warehouse and office where your favorite games are made. Westland, Michigan.

30-40 Palladium creators will be present to chat and sign books.

Get original artwork, character sketches, books and more.

POH Game Masters, please submit your game events over the next few weeks

My thanks to the Game Masters who have reached out to us about running game events at the 2018 Palladium Open House (POH). Please keep ‘em coming.

If you are a quality Game Master with experience, you are coming to the Palladium Open House, and would like to run one or more gaming events at the POH, please contact us as soon as possible. We want to post the Events Schedule by the end of February. That means we need commitments and the majority of game descriptions by February 14 (or sooner). We will continue to add events after that date, but would like to have the majority listed and posted by the end of February.

G.M. Rewards: Game Masters who run 3 or more events get a FREE special T-shirt and a 30% discount on most Palladium product, books, T-shirts and products, with some exclusions. (Sorry, the discount does not apply to limited editions, art prints, original art, auction items, concessions, convention exclusive products and items sold by our guests.)

Info we need from G.M.s:

Maximum Number of Players: 6-10 is typical, but run what YOU feel comfortable with running.

Running Time: 3-4 hours is typical, and best for these kinds of events, longer can be a problem.

What days you can run: VIP Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday?

When: Do you have a preferred time of day you want to run? If so, what is it? Specify preferences (10 AM, noon, 8:00 PM, what)? If we CANNOT give you the preferred time slot, are you willing to run at a different time, earlier or later?

Multiple games: If you are running multiple times, is it the same game? If different games please provide all this information for EACH game you intend to run.

NOTE: If you commit to running games at the POH, you must be serious and MUST be present to run your games. Do not disappoint gamers from around the globe by being unprepared or absent. You also have to purchase your own admission ticket. If you have questions or would like to discuss any aspect, do not hesitate to call the Palladium office.

Send Game Event information via e-mail to palladium-gm{at}palladiumbooks.com – or call – 734-721-2903 and ask for Wayne, Julius or Alex.

Remember, Game Masters who run three or more games get a FREE special T-shirt unveiled for the first time at the POH and a 30% Game Master Supreme Discount on Palladium’s RPG books, T-shirts and most other items. We need plenty of games to satisfy 250-300 gamers, so your help is very appreciated and welcomed.

We expect to have more than 100 gaming events and we need experienced Game Masters to run Palladium events for all of our game lines – Rifts®, Robotech®, Robotech® RPG Tactics™, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, Splicers®, Nightbane®, Dead Reign®, Beyond the Supernatural™, After the Bomb®, and all the rest!

Can contact us by telephone (734-721-2903) or by email at palladium-gm{at}palladiumbooks.com as SOON as possible please. Thank you.

POH Volunteers Needed

We will also need volunteers to help us set up, admissions (confirming I.D. and handing out badges), emptying trash cans, store/sales assistance/restocking shelves, gopher, general assistance, parking lot, etc. You’ll get a volunteer’s badge and select perks that may include a product discount percentage commensurate with the amount of work and hours put in. NOTE: If you volunteer, please show up. Volunteers have to purchase their own admission ticket.

NEW title on DriveThruRPG.com – Adventures on the High Seas™ for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition game line – plus SALE on all issues of The Rifter® #1-75

New this week: High Seas, 2nd Edition, is one of our favorite sourcebooks with 13 O.C.C.s, 20+ character sheets, 30 ships, a dozen different ports, cities and towns, including the Island of the Cyclops and Floenry Islands, ship combat rules, and adventures. Coming in the weeks ahead, the Nightbane® RPG and sourcebooks. AND don’t miss out on The Rifter® Sale starting tomorrow morning!

The Rifter® #1-75. Each issue is a wealth of source material and ideas for several game lines, but most material can be easily adapted to ANY Palladium game world. Each issue a gem.

Splicers® RPG is like Iron Man meets Game of Thrones with elements of Terminator – except this army of Iron Men are clad in living body armor and wield living, organic weapons and devices. Created in 2004 by writer and game designer Carmen Bellaire, Splicers® was nominated for an Inquest Gamer Magazine Fan Awards Game of the Year, and has since developed a rabid fan base. Science fiction and horror where humans are forced to use genetically engineered, living weapons and organic war machines to battle an insane Artificial Intelligence and her robot legions. Unlike anything you have ever played before!

Palladium Fantasy RPG® first edition rule book and sourcebooks. 2nd edition sourcebooks to come. Not your father’s fantasy RPG, this is a unique world of magic, monsters and heroes. Many nonhuman player characters and 50,000 years of history.

Dead Reign® (Zombie Apocalypse) and sourcebooks. The dead have risen. It is the battle for survival in the zombie apocalypse, but this setting is much more than your typical zombie game. Play ordinary people or special characters better equipped to survive and hunt zombies. Many unusual types of zombies.

Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG. Supernatural horror in the modern world. Play ordinary people, psychics or paranormal investigators.

After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks. Planet of the Apes meets the X-Men! Animal creations, powers and more. Create any type of intelligent mutant animal you can imagine as friend or foe.

Alex and I continue to add Star Wars toys and a growing number of all kinds of collectibles – and we’ll be adding more Palladium Books original art and items to the store, so keep an eye out for them.

This includes one-of-a-kind original artwork, prints, Rifts® and Robotech® artwork by Kevin Long, me and others. There is also a range of limited editions, rare book titles and limited edition hardcovers, toys and more that are all being added to my online store over the next several weeks, so keep an eye out. Alex and I will keep adding items as our busy schedules allow, but we have a lot of fun collectibles available now and coming soon. Items include original art, out of print titles, redlined proofreader photocopies signed by me and the staff, signed manuscripts with editors’ corrections, some original art, hardcover books (including Rifts® Lemuria, Northern Gun™ One, Northern Gun™ Two, Megaverse® in Flames™, Beyond the Supernatural™ Gold, Rifts® Machinations of Doom™ Gold and Rifts® Ultimate Gold) and other items available. There are also hundreds of toys and action figures, all from my personal archives and collection. Take a look every weekend for new items added.

UPDATE: Convention Calendar

Adepticon – March 22-25, 2018

Palladium Open House – April 19-22, 2018 – Westland, Michigan

30-40 Palladium creators under one roof, running gaming events, panel talks and fun. See full description elsewhere in the Update or in the online store description.

Anime North – May 25-27, 2018 – Toronto, Canada

Charles Walton, Greg Diaczyk, Apollo Okamura, and I (Kevin Siembieda) will be present at the Palladium Books booth to chat and sign books. And maybe a few other Palladium writers and artists.

2018 Gen Con – August 2-5, 2018 – Indianapolis, Indiana

As noted earlier, we need Game Masters to submit their Palladium Gaming Event descriptions over the next few weeks. As with years past, please coordinate with NMI and the Megaversal Ambassadors to be part of the Palladium Books gaming block at Gen Con and to get listed in the onsite Gen Con Program Book (very important). Thank you.

The usual Palladium crew will be present at the Palladium booth to chat and sign books.

Closing Thoughts

That’s enough for this week: Two sales, news, the Palladium Open House (I hope you are coming), and updates aplenty does it for this week. I need to finish up my work on Rifts® Sovietski so it can get to the darn printer. Have a safe, fun weekend and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, & Game Designer

New! The Rifter® #79 – Available now

The Rifter® #79 is all about pushing the envelope, trying new things and alternative methods, rules and approaches to create epic adventure! Role-playing games are all about expressions of your imagination. Of making ideas, characters and stories come to life. RPGs are flexible. Malleable. Alive and changing. There is no one way to look at things because there are infinite possibilities. This issue of The Rifter® explores some of those new possibilities.

Rifter® #79 Highlights:

Gaming Through History – any game setting. Do not sell history short. There are epic events, battles and mysteries throughout history that would make amazing RPG campaigns. Create adventures that are, in effect, parts of our unknown history. Hendrik Härterich shows you how with a wonderful set of guidelines, rules and ideas for using characters from just about any modern RPG to create settings and adventures from Earth’s past. Suitable for use with any Palladium RPG.

Rifts® – The Kingdom of New Oslo™ by David Collins. Explore the European Northlands and face the would-be god of Hell Hounds and Fenry. A monster that calls itself Fenrik. Oslo overview, notable people and places, vehicles, gear, and adventure ideas.

New! World Book 36: Rifts® Sovietski™ – ships February

The Rifts® Sovietski™ World Book delves into the new Soviet Nation, key places, people, O.C.C.s, combat vehicles, cyborgs and weapons, and has everything you’d expect from a book like this. There is a wealth of information that will set your imagination on fire, new characters, new D-Bees, new weapons, vehicles and adventure hooks. There is the looming threat of General Goll’s invasion of the Brodkil sent by Mindwerks’ Angel of Death and Angel of Vengeance, treachery among the Warlords of Russia, and the coming of the Minion War. Learn about how the Sovietski came into being, its people’s dreams, beliefs, politics, and its growing army, plus Deadzones, Spetsnaz Special Forces, new bionics, and more.

It all ties in nicely with the Warlords of Russia™, Mystic Russia™, Rifts® Triax & the NGR, Triax Two, and the Mindwerks™ sourcebooks.

New! Rifts® Bestiary™: North America, Vol. One

A series of books that collects all the notable monsters, dinosaurs and creepy crawlers and creatures of Rifts® North America (US, Canada and Mexico) into two juicy volumes with a number of new creatures. Each volume includes maps and new creatures, large and small, to help or plague player characters. Between them, these two volumes compile all the beasts of Rifts North America (unintelligent monsters, predators, notable animals and intelligent beings that are monstrous or animal-like in appearance or behavior) from all current World Books and Sourcebooks. In addition, Kevin Siembieda, Chuck Walton and Greg Diaczyk are adding some new monsters to make life in the wilderness interesting. Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books.

Winter releases, both volumes are being worked on simultaneously, right now, so that Volume Two will quickly follow Volume One within 4-6 weeks. Other volumes, like a Bestiary of Spirits and the Supernatural, are likely to follow.

Future volumes will include spirits, ghosts and entities, another on dragons, other volumes on creatures in other parts of Rifts Earth, and so on.

Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks. Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.

Some new creatures, but most are existing creatures.

Updated information where applicable.

Updated and uniform stat blocks.

A map for every creature showing where it is found.

Fully illustrated.

Art by Chuck Walton, Siembieda and many others.

192-224 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 896. In production. We are working hard for an end of February release.

New! Rifts® Bestiary™: North America, Vol. Two

More monsters and exotic animals of Rifts® North America as part of an ongoing series of Rifts® Bestiary sourcebooks. The first two Rifts® Bestiaries are being created simultaneously. Between them, these two volumes compile all the beasts of Rifts North America (unintelligent monsters, predators, notable animals and intelligent beings that are monstrous or animal-like in appearance or behavior) from all current World Books and Sourcebooks, plus some new monsters by Siembieda and Walton. Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books.

Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks. Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.

UPDATE: Rifts® Living Nowhere™ – A Rifts® Sourcebook set in the Pecos Empire

This title has been rescheduled due to rewrites and is probably a spring release. It presents four interrelated towns off the beaten path in the Pecos Empire. Each with its own unique character and problems. All fun locations to visit and find adventure and trouble. Something dark and deadly is brewing in the middle of Nowhere, where experimental Techno-Wizard devices and weapons offer prosperity, but could be the doom of everyone living there. Big ideas. Building upon material that appeared in The Rifter®, expanded.

COMING! In the Face of Death™ – A Dead Reign® Sourcebook

This sourcebook is all about inner-city survival. Survivor colonies finding a way to live and prosper in the big city. Conventional wisdom says that living in the big population centers is impossible. These survivors prove otherwise.